Permutation-lock.



P. J. BURNS.

PERMU'IATION .LOGK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. so, 1908.

910,783. I Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1m: mamas PETERS 5a., WASHINGTON, n. c.

"a4? WM F. J. BURNS.

PERMU-TATION LOCK.

APPLICATION rum) MAB. 30,1905.

9-1 0,783. Patented Jan.'26, 1909.

2 snark-sum 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT l fFltl l PERMUTATION-LOGK.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. BURNS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Thomaston, in the county of Litchfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Permutation-Locks; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference markedthereon, to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the same, andwhich said drawings constitutepart of this specification, and represent,in

Figure 1 a view in front elevation of a lock constructed in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 2 an enlarged view thereof in central horizontalsection on a greatly enlarged scale. Big. 3 a detached view in insideelevation of the tumbler mechanism of the lock on a scale one-thirdsmaller than the scale of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 a corresponding view with theplate removed from the rotary case of the lock. Fig. 5 a detached viewof the wheel tumbler. Fig. 6 a detached view of the washer. Fig. 7 acorresponding view of the locking-disk.

My invention relates to an improvement in permutation locks of thatclass which are designed to be operated not by sight nor hearing, but bythe sense of feeling, the object being to produce a simple, compact andconvenient lock of the character described which shall be composed offew parts and not liable to derangement and have a wide range ofermutation.

ith these ends in view my invention consists in a lock having certaindetails of construction and combinations of parts as will be hereinafterdescribed and pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown, I employ a rotaryfinger-button 2 concentrically mounted in a circular rotarybutton-carrying case 3 having a concentric flange 4, closed by a plate 5and located within a fixed case or shell 6 which is mounted in the woodwork 7 of the door to which the lock is applied. The rotaryfinger-button 2 is provided with a short arbor 8 projecting into thecase 3 and carrying a count-wheel 9 which is made adjustable upon it forchanging the combination of the look as will be described later on. Theteeth of this wheel are engaged with the nose 10 of a count spring 11located within the case, a portion of the teeth being broken away toform a clearance space 12 through which the nose 10 Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed March 30, 1908.

Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

Serial No. 424,257.

of the spring will travel without putting the spring under tension,whereby the user of the lock is informed through his lingers by thesense of feeling that the wheel has been brought into its starting orzero position to begin counting the number of times that the nose ridesover a tooth. The button 2 is used for turning the wheel 9 in onedirection or the other until it is apparent to the user that the space12 of the wheel has been registered with the nose 10 of the spring. inthis way the user is given a point to start from in counting 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 850., according to the number of times that the nose of the springrides over the teeth of the wheel. The inner face of the wheel is formedwith a circular recess 13 entered by the projecting end of the pin 14employed to secure the count-wheel 9 to the arbor 8 which is formed witha shoulder 8 upon which the count-wheel 9- is seated and against whichit is held by the said pin 14 the friction of which upon the bottom ofthe recess 13 causes the wheel 9 to be rotated with the arbor 8.

The projecting end of the pin 14 coacts with an operating-pin 15entering the recess 13 and carried by a wheel-tumbler 16 the inner faceof which is formed with a concenforwardly projecting end of alocking-pin 18 for the reception of which the said tumbler is formedwith a transverse hole 19 and the count-wheel with a seat 20. Twoinclines 21 in the bottom of the recess 17 lead into the hole 19 in thetumbler 16. The said lockingpin 18 is mounted for longitudinal movementin a transverse hole 22 in the plate 5 which is secured in place byscrews 23 passing into its edge from the periphery of the flange 4 ofthe rotary case 3. The projecting inner end of the pin 18 is formed witha transverse hole 24 receiving a spring 25 attached to the outer face ofthe plate 5 and exerting a constant effort to move the locking-pinforward so as to shoot it into the hole 19 in the tumbler 16 when thesaid hole is brought into registration with it and into the seat 20 inthe countwheel 9 when the seat is brought into registration with thesaid hole 19. A thin sheet metal washer-like spacer 26 formed with threeperforated retaining ears 27 is interposed between the count-wheel 9 andthe tumbler 16 for the purpose of preventing the tumbler from beingfrictionally rotated by the count-wheel 9. The said pin 14 is made 1available for changing the combination of tric recess 17 for thereception of the rounded the lock for the reason that it is employed tofrictionally hold the count-wheel 9 in its op: erative relation to thearbor 8. By shifting the count-wheel 9 with respect to the in 14, thecombination will be changed for t e reason that a definite number of theteeth of .the count-wheel must ride under the countspring 11 before thehole 19 in the wheeltumbler 16 and the seat 20 in the count wheel 9 willbe lined up or brought into registration with the locking-pin 18 becausethe engagement of the pin 15 carried by the wheel-tumbler 16 with theprojecting end of the pin 14 depends upon the location of the pin 14with regard to the clearance space 12 of the count-wheel. Let it besupposed, for instance, that the teeth of the count-wheel are numberedconsecutively from left to right, beginning with first tooth at theright hand end of the space 12. Then suppose that the count-wheel 9 hasbeen frictionally coupled to the arbor 8 with the operating or longerend of the pin 14 in alineinent with the last tooth of the series asshown in Fig. 4. To change the combination it is only necessary to holdthe count-wheel stationary and at the same time turn the arbor 8 againstthe friction of the pin 14 so that the pin will be in opposition to someother tooth of the count-wheel from which it will follow that the pin 15on the wheel-tumbler will engage in a difierent place with the pin 14,with regard to the clearance space 12.

The finger-button 2 is surrounded by six push buttons which, for ease ofidentification, I shall designate by A, B, C, D, E and F. As shown thesebuttons are fixed upon short studs 28 formed upon the outer ends oftrunnions 29 having bearing in holes 30 in the case i 3, these trunnionsbeing themselves formed at the outer ends of button-shanks 31 havingbearing in holes 32 in the plate 5. The longitudinal'movement of eachbutton is the same as the trunnions 29 are all of the same length. Threeof the button-shanks arefurnished at their inner ends with concentricstems 33, and three withnarrow annular grooves 34 thus virtuallydividing the Six buttons into two groups of three buttons each. As shownthe buttons A, O and E have the stems 33, and the buttons B, D and F thenarrow grooves 34. The rearrangenient of these buttons in different waysprovides for an immense number of changes in the permutation of the lockfor which other permutations are provided, as describedfb y shifting thewheel 9 with respect to the arbor 8 against the friction of the pin'14on the bottom of the recess 13, such friction being relied upon to causethe said wheel to be turned with the finger-button 2. Each button-shank31 is formed at its inner end with a circular locking-flange 35corresponding to theshanl; in diameter and therefore allalike'.Push-button springs 36 secured to the outer face of the plate 5 byscrews 37 engage with the inner ends of the button-shanks 31 and holdthe push-buttons in their normal outwardly projected positions in whichtheir shoulders 38 engage with the inner face or bottom of the case 3,as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The said locking-flanges 35 coact withshallow notches 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 located in the edge of acircular locking-plate 45 fixed upon a hub 46 about midway the lengththereof, the said hub being mounted in the center of the shell 6 andlocated in line with the arbor 8 of the button 2. Normally thelocking-flanges 35 of the three buttons A, C and E which are the buttonsprovided at their inner ends with the stems 33, are entered into thenotches 39, 41 and 43 whereby the plate 5, and hence the rotary case 3,will be held against rotation until the said pushbuttons A, C and E arepushed inward against the tension of their springs 36 for a sufficientdistance to clear their'flanges '35 from the said notches 39, 41 and 43,whereby the case 3 will be released for rotation, provided at this timethe locking-pin 18 has moved forward so as to disengage its rear endfrom the locking-hole 47 in the plate 45.

To unlock the lock, the push-buttons A, C and'E must be simultaneouslypressed inward as described. Should the buttons D, B and F or any one ofthem be pushed ward, their locking flanges 35 will be entered into thenotches 40, 42 and 44, as the case may be, and so look the case againstrotation. Normally the said push buttons D, B and F in the permutationwe are now considering, do not perform any locking function but remaininactive except in the case of a surreptitious attempt to open the look.I may here add that the spacer 26 is held in place by the passage ofthree of the button-shanks 31 through its perforated ears 27.

For the purpose of utilizing the rotary movement of the case 3 in theoperation of the latch-bolt, whatever the character of that may be, theplate 5 is provided with a heavy concentric stud 48'the rear end ofwhich projects through the hub 46, and is formed with a slot 49 for thereception of one end of a flat coupling bar 50 which is secured in placeby a pin 51, the opposite end of the said bar being entered into or insome suitable manner connected with the roll-back of the latchboltmechanism which I have not described as it may be of any ordinary andwell known construction.

Having now described the mechanism of my improved lock, '1 will brieflyset forth the.

mode of its operation supposing it to be set upon the numbers 4 and 3,and supposing also that its buttons A, C and E are'normally coactingwith the locking-disk 45 and that its buttons D, B and F are normallyretired. To unlock the lock the user grasps the fingerbutton 2 and turnsit to the right orto'the left until he ascer'tains by the sense offeeling that the clearance space 12 of the countwheel 9 has beenbrought'under thenose 10 of the count-spring 11. He will know thisbecause at this time the wheel may be turned, within the narrow limitset by the length of the said space, to the right or left without thepressure reqpired to force the teeth of the wheel under the nose of thespring. Having thus secured his starting point, the fingerbutton 2 isturned from left to right until 4 has been counted by feeling, the noseof the spring riding over four teeth in the countwheel. Vi hen four hasbeen counted in this way the hole 19 in the wheel-tumbler 15 will havebeen brought into registration with the locking pin 18 which will beautomatically entered into the said hole 19 by the action of its spring25, he tumbler 16 having been picked up and turned so as to bring itshole 19 into registration with the pin 18 by the engagement of one faceor the other of its operating-pin 15 with the pin 14. The finger-button2 is now turned from right to left until the fingers detect the ridingof the nose of the count-spring over three teeth in the count-wheel atwhich time the seat 20 in the count wheel will have been brought asshown in Fig. 2, into registration with the hole 19 in the wheel-tumbler16 whereby the locking-pin 18 is left free to be moved by its springinto the seat 20 in the count-wheel, this movement of the pin beingsuiiicient to clear its inner end entirely from the locking hole 47 inthe notched locking disk 45. If now the user of the lock simultaneouslypushes the push-buttons A, C and E inward so as to clear their lockingflanges from the notches 39, 41 and 43, the case 3 may be rotated,whereby its rotary movement will be communicated to the coupling barwhich will operate the latch bolt of the lock. Should the user notoperate these three buttons at the same time, the case will not bereleased for rotation, or should he operate these three buttons at thesame time and one or more of the buttons D, B and F, he will not releasethe case 3 for rotation for the reason that the inward movement of anyone of the normally cleared or retired push-buttons will at once enterits locking-flange 35 into its appropriate notch in the disk 45 and solock the case 3. Therefore even if anyone should learn the numbers 3 and4 on which the lock is set he could not unlock it without knowing whichbuttons to simultaneously press or vice versa. Of course the lock may beset on other numbers and on other push buttons, the range of permutationin this re spect being very great. As the lock is operated by the senseof feeling rather than by any dials or audible clicks the operation ofthe lock in the presence of any number of people will not enable anyone,however familiar with the construction of such locks to secure aknowledge of the numbers on which it is set as no one but the person whois operating the lock can feel the operation of its internal mechanism.

1. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombinationwi th a toothed count-wheel having in the line of its teeth aclearance space forming a starting point for counting, of a count-springcoac ting with the teeth and the said clearance-space of the said wheel,a wheel-tumbler concentric with the said wheel by which it is operated,a springactuated locking pin arranged to pass transversely through thesaid tumbler into engagement with the said wheel, and a lockingplatewith which the said pin is normally engaged.

2. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombination with a retary case, of a concentricfinger button mountedtherein, a toothed count-wheel turned by the said button and having aclearance space in the line of its teeth, a count-spring ccacting withthe teeth and clearance space of the said wheel, a wheel-tumbler pickedup and rotated by the count wheel, a locking-pin coacting with the saidtumbler and count-wheel, and a locking-plate normally engaged by thelocking-pin for preventing the said case from turning.

3. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombination with a flanged rotary case, of a circular plate secured tothe said flange, a concentric finger-button mounted in the case, atoothed count-wheel turned by the said button and having aclearancespace located in the line of its teeth, a countspring coactingwith the said teeth and clearance-space, a wheel-tumbler concentric withthe count-wheel and operated thereby, a locking-pin mounted in the saidplate and coacting with the said tumbler and count-wheel, and a fixedlocking-plate with which the said pin is normally engaged for lockingthe said case against rotation.

4. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombination with a rotary case, of a concentric finger-button mountedtherein, a toothed count-wheel turned by the said button and having aclearance space in the line of its teeth, a count-spring coacting withthe teeth and clearance space of the said wheel, a wheel-tumblerconcentric with the said count-wheel by which it is operated, aspring-actuated locking-pin arranged to pass transversely through thesaid tumbler into engagement with the said wheel, a fixed locking-platewith which the said pin is normally engaged, and a series ofpush-buttons carried by the said case and coacting with the said lockingplate, the said buttons being arranged concentric with the said finger-button, and one or more of the buttons being normally engaged with theplate for locking the case, and one or more of the buttons beingnormally disengaged from the plate but engaged therewith for locking thecase if pushed inward.

5. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombination with a rotary case, of a concentric finger-button mountedtherein, a toothed count-wheel turned by the said button and having aclearance space in the line of its teeth, a count-spring coacting withthe teeth and clearance space of the said wheel, a wheel-tumblerconcentric with the said wheel by which it is operated, aspring-actuated locking-pin arranged to pass transversely through thesaid tumbler into engagement with the said wheel, a fixed loci;-ing-plate with which the said pin is normally engaged, a series ofpush-buttons mounted in the said case and arranged concentric with thesaid finger-button and each provided at its inner end with alocking-lange, the flanges of one or more of the said buttons being normally engaged with the locking-plate, and the flanges of one or more ofthe buttons being normally disengaged from the plate but engagedtherewith if operated.

6. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombination with a rotary case, of concentric finger-button, a toothedcount-wheel carried thereby, a spring co-acting with the teeth of thesaid wheel a wheel-tumbler concentric with the count wheel by which itis operated, a springactuated locking pin coacting with the saidcount-wheel and tumbler, a fixed lockingplate with which the said pin isnormally engaged and from which it is disengaged when predeterminedportions of the wheel and tumbler are brought into alinement with itsouter end, and a series of push buttons carried by the said case andcoacting with the said plate, one or more of the push-buttons beingnormally engaged therewith and one or more being normally clearedtherefrom.

7. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombination with a finger-button having an arbor, of a count-wheelmounted upon the said arbor on which it is rotatably adjustable forchanging the combination of the lock, the said count wheel having in theline of its teeth a clearance space forming a starting point forcounting, a count spring coacting with the teeth of the said wheel thesaid clearance space of the said wheel, a wheel tumbler concentric withthe said wheel by which it is operated, a springactuated locking pinarranged to pass transersely through the said tumbler into engagementwith the said wheel, and a locking plate with which the said pin isnormally engaged.

8. In a permutation lock operated by the sense of feeling, thecombination with a finger-button having an arbor, of a toothedcount-wheel mounted upon the said arbor, a spring coacting with theteeth of the said wheel a coupling-pin passing through the said arborand engaging with the said wheel, whereby the wheel is caused to rotatewith the arbor and permitted to be adjusted in position with respectthereto, a wheel-tumbler concentric with the count-wheel and carrying apin coacting with the said coupling-pin, and a locking pin coacting withthe said tumbler and count-wheel.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK J. BURNS. Witnesses JAs. M. OHATFiELD, JAs. MALAHANN.

